AGL Identifies Irradiated Colombian Emeralds

[Christopher P. Smith]

Hello all and Happy New Year!

I am including a link to our website that has a press release we sent out yesterday.

Christopher P. Smith

http://www.aglgemlab.com/News/AGL%20IDE ... 202012.pdf

[Alberto]

Hello Christopher and thank you for posting the lab alert, another emerald treatment we should take into consideration, a good way to start the new year.......
happy new year to you too!
ciao
alberto

[Conny Forsberg]

Thanks!! Very useful info.

[Osman khattak]

Thanks Christopher P. Smith for sharing such a useful information.

HUK

[Barbra Voltaire, FGG]

The stability of the treatment will be really interesting to follow up on.
Also some before and after treatment pictures would be awesome to see.

Several years ago, I purchased a few strands of pastel faceted morganite, heliodor and aquamarine beads.
They are now all goshenite beads.

I suspect they were also irradiated.

[Whatever]

Thnx Mr. Smith for sharing the information... much helpful

[roshanravan]

the stability of the treatment is interesting, as no one heat emerald jewelries or use them mounted for repairs with jeweler’s torch the color stability should depend mostly on light and heat from the light (sun, Halogen bulbs, ...)

@ Barbra, add Geiger counter to your shopping list next time you're going to buy gemological tools

[Conny Forsberg]

Or you can borrow mine
Bought a russian unit to check thorium and uranium minerals so I would not start cutting some stupid stuff without precautions when getting parcels of mixed rough.

[Swishman]

I heard rumors about irradiated Emeralds for a few months now, but never from a reliable source! Thank you Christopher! Great to finally know! The rumors I heard were in relation to Pakistani material.

Cobalt-60 nor E-Beam would show on Geiger counter. So it is not always a sure fire method of testing. But still a tool every Gemologist, or even Rockhound, should have!

[ROM]

Hello all and Happy New Year!

I am including a link to our website that has a press release we sent out yesterday.

Christopher P. Smith

http://www.aglgemlab.com/News/AGL%20IDE ... 202012.pdf

Thanks Christopher for this very important information. Now a question relating to AGL:

Are tests for irradiated emeralds included in AGL's Emerald Briefs? If so, when was such testing begun?

[Christopher P. Smith]

Hello Rick,

The short answer to your question is "yes". I run spectra on all emeralds we are sent for testing. This is not an additional test for me, but a standard one. Prior to my arrival at AGL in December of 2006 I cannot say whether AGL tested all emeralds for irradiation, but since then it is a policy. I have run the necessary spectra on all emeralds I test for many years.... Since the early 90's.

Just for the general fyi, when it comes to the ID and enhancement services of our lab, there is no difference in the testing procedures for the two types of services: the laminated full-page version (what we call our Prestige report) and the credit card sized version (what we call our GemBrief report). The larger format will go into more details, such as quantification of certain types of treatment, the identification of filler substances and country-of-origin, as well as others, but when it comes to the pure identification and enhancement aspect of our services, we follow due diligence without exception.

Best regards,
Chris

[ROM]

Thanks Chris. Your press release gave me the impression the discovery of emerald color enhancement by irradiation was quite recent. I had GemBriefs done on some emeralds last June and wondered if the reports reflected irradiation testing or if I should re-submit them. I can sell them with confidence now.

[Minx]

Christopher:

Thank you for the report. One follow up question - since the samples you tested which were irradiated were also resin filled, can one conclude that oiled or otherwise untreated emeralds are likely to be safer from irradiation?

[Christopher P. Smith]

Hello Minx,

The clarity enhancement using a resin/polymer-type filler is separate from the irradiation issue. I would not presume one way or another based on the identity of a filler.

For Rick, what was "new" and prompted the release was that this represented the first time a series of stones had been submitted by members of the trade in a very short time period. The issue of an irradiated emerald prior to this in my personal experience was a one-off here and there, separated by years.

That being said, I don't want to suggest to the industry that this is now rampant or wide spread. My release was to raise awareness and I even included the information for how to detect it, so that the trade doesn't get too excited and they should even be comforted by the fact that it is detectable.

Best regards,
cHris

[Liz Rishavy]

Incredible! Thank you for continuing to add your knowledge to this forum and world